The Everlasting Fire
by LuckyBubbles
Summary: Dustfinger is dead.  Everyone is in mourning.  But can they bring him back?  MeggieXFarid.  Takes place directly after Inkspell.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, my first Inkheart trilogy fic! Be nice with reviews? Thanks.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own. **

Chapter 1: Stripping the Mask

"Fenoglio, has it ever taken you this long to find the right words?" The old turtle shook his head. Meggie sighed. "Farid is miserable! He hasn't said a word in two months." Fenoglio nodded, but Meggie was sure he wasn't paying attention to her. His head had been in the clouds since his creation's death. After all, Dustfinger did add a lot of action to the story.

Meggie walked away. He wouldn't have been any help anyway.

She decided she would go talk to Farid.. She couldn't find him in the camp. Meggie had asked Roxane, but the beautiful woman had nothing to say. She was in mourning over Dustfinger, and blamed Farid for the loss of her husband's life. Meggie wandered for almost an hour, muttering how much she hated Cheeseface until she found Farid. He was sitting by a small creek with Gwin. She sat down beside him and stroked Gwin's silky fur. The marten snapped at her and she didn't even notice when her finger began to bleed.

Farid looked at her and his deep eyes plunged into her heart. Then, unexpectedly, he threw his arms around her and whispered in her ear, "I miss him!" She felt fresh tears run down his brown cheeks. She welcomed the embrace, for she was happy to hear his voice again.

"I know he'll come back!" she pulled away and looked into to his dark brown eyes. "You know Dustfinger wouldn't want us to mourn over him, but rejoice that he was nice enough to give his life."

Then, it was like a switch had turned on in Farid. He leaned down and splashed water in her face. She splashed him back then they began to run. They ran and ran until they had no breath left.

"Do you really think he'll come back?"

"I'd bet my life on it! Although I don't think it will come from Cheeseface." They laughed and he kissed her lightly on the mouth. Then the mask slipped away, all the emotion flooded into his face.

"We should get back to camp, it's getting dark." Farid said as she laid her head on his shoulder.

She nodded but said, "Just a little bit longer."

"You're right, the night's too beautiful to abandon." So, they laid down and looked up at the stars.

"You know what the stars remind me of?" Farid asked timidly.

"Clue me in." She said looking at him.

"Your eyes. People always said they looked like pieces of the sky." Meggie blushed. She hoped he hadn't seen, but she heard Farid chuckle.

"Isn't it a bit late for the lovebirds to be out in the woods?" The voice was recognized at once, and the two jumped up in surprise. They whirled around and saw a white body floating in the air.

"DUSTFINGER!!!" The two shouted and ran over to hug him, but to no avail as they ran right through him.

"Hey, that tickles!" he chuckled and said "So how chaotic is it?"

"Dustfinger… how…when…WHAT ARE YOU?" Farid choked.

"Okay, okay, I'm glad to see you too. The white women agreed to give me a ghost form so that I could see you guys. Now, is Roxane okay?" he asked, determined to weasel as much information out of them as possible.

"She's fine, but cranky. And she wants to wring Farid's neck!" Meggie answered indignantly .

"Just like her." He laughed and said, "I'll take you guys back to camp."

"How long have you been watching us?" Farid asked.

"Hmmm, let me think. I may have seen a kiss and I may not have," he said as Meggie and Farid blushed crimson red.

As they walked Farid asked, "How can we get you back to normal form?"

"You must talk to the white women." he said calmly. Meggie took a sharp intake of breath and grabbed Farid's hand, but quickly pulled away when she saw Dustfinger staring at them.

Wanting to occupy Dustfinger some other way than he and Meggie, Farid asked, "How do we summon the white women?"

"Why, your fire, of course!" They walked the rest of the way in silence and were thankful when they reached the camp.

**Okay, thanks for reading! Please review. And it may be a little while before I update because I haven't worked on chapter two in a few days and I'm in school too. Sorry about that! But please review anyway? Thanks. **


	2. Chapter 2 return

**A/N okay I know it has been almost a year since I updated and I'm RLY sorry but I haven't had any inspiration to write lately plus I had END of GRADE TESTS at the end of school and then I was in Texas for the whole month of June soooooooooo hope you like this**

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own anything but the idea for the story**

There was utter silence as they made their way back to camp and Farid contemplated what Dustfinger had said. Meggie was halfway to a mental breakdown. She had just gotten Farid to start talking again and now he was thinking of how to summon the White Women. She shuddered at the mere thought of them and of how they had almost taken her father's life. But she knew that there must be some kind of catch that Dustfinger wasn't telling them about because they had used his fire before and the white women had never come.

She saw the determined expression on Farid's face and knew that there was no way she could talk him out of this now.

Just as they reached their camp there was the sound of multiple swords being drawn. The black prince stepped out of a dimly lit cave stating firmly, " You have no business here white woman! So be on your way. Dustfinger looked at him skeptically, waiting for him to recognize him.

Realization dawned on the prince and he almost fainted, "Dustfinger…" He whispered in a shocked tone. The floating figure nodded before saying, "Now the real reason that I'm here…Have you seen Roxanne?"

The once calm man burst into laughter, leaving Dustfinger with a confused look on his face. Once the prince collected himself again he said through minor slips of mirth "I think…she just went to…bur you!" He broke into hysterics again, even Meggie let out a few stray giggles. Dustfinger sighed, "Well do you know where?"

"Yahh…down by the creek." Quickly Dustfinger thanked him and headed in the direction he had just come from.

Meggie listened as Farid muttered about the old hag not telling him that she was burying Dustfinger. The kids jumped as the prince spoke once again, "WHAT are you two children doing out here alone in the dark!" They both blushed not answering the question, but slowly making their way inside. The black prince followed them a ways before saying, "Well this is my stop, now you two get some sleep." They waited for him to disappear before letting out a breath.

But Farid automatically bounced onto another subject, "This is great Meggie! We now have a way to save Dustfinger!" A wide grin spread out across his face and he wrapped his large muscular arms around her petite frame in a hug. She did the same thing grateful for the contact, but her tone said differently, "Yahh, but there's something he's not telling us…I mean we've used your fire before and white women had never come…" She really didn't mean to ruin the mood, but she didn't want him to be disappointed again. He let her go looking at her from arm's length. "It's okay Meggie we'll find out what to do."

"MEGGIE!" They heard the voice of her father from down the hall. "Crap!" She whispered, "You need to get out of here…" He nodded, pecked her on the lips and headed off in the opposite direction. She heard footsteps coming toward her and she turned around to see Mo fuming her way.

"I'm going to kill that boy for keeping you out late again!" She stepped back once and put her hands up to stop him.

"It wasn't his fault Mo…Do you even see him around?"

He shook his head and calmed down a bit, "Okay he's off the hook…for now…now go get in bed!" She rushed off in the direction of the cave she was sharing with Mo and her mom.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Dustfinger floated down to the creek to see his beloved Roxanne leaned over a heap of some sort covered in leaves that he knew was his body. "Now what would I do if I woke up buried?" Roxanne screamed and turned around to face him. Immediately she burst into tears at his floating figure. "Roxanne?" He asked shocked.

She shook her head, "Great…now I'm hallucinating! This is all that boy's fault!" He floated over to her whispering, "No sweetheart, it's me...Dustfinger…" She looked up at him and tried to hug him but fell through his body.

"NO…NO! This is not you!" She got up and began to run tears running down her cheeks." If Dustfinger could have cried, he would have.

XXXXXXXXXXX

She lay on her pallet waiting until Mo and Risa had fallen asleep. Silently she crept out of the room and headed in the direction Farid had gone. She peeked her head into his cave to find him staring at the ceiling. She knocked slightly on the cave before stepping in. He looked up at her and smiled, patting the empty space on the pallet beside him. It had become a routine, Meggie waited for her parents to fall asleep then she would sneak in here. Then in the morning they just thought she got up early and went for a walk.

She put her head on his chest and let him wrap his arms around her as she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come. He kissed the top of her head before whispering, "I love you Meggie…" She smiled up at his and stroked his cheek before repeating the words to him.

**A/N okay I know this chapt. Was pretty much fluff but the next chapt. Will be more along the plot and stuff soooooooooo yahh and I promise if u review I'll update faster**


	3. Chapter 3 don't lie

A/N okay sorry it took so long for me to update but I have been busy with black belt testing so I'm back now gomen-nasai thnx so much for all the reviews I think that's the most I've ever gotten

Disclaimer: I wish this wuz mine

Light was leaking through the cracks in the cave. Meggie slipped her clothes on and walked out kissing Farid's sleeping form on the lips before leaving. The woods were still dark so she crept toward the silently calling, "Dustfinger!"

"Boo!" Someone breathed on her neck she jumped screaming, before realizing that it was just the floating form of Dusfinger. She growled then settled and said, "Stop laughing I have something serious to ask you about." He stopped and looked at her.

"You said that we have to use fire to summon the white women? Well there's something that you're not telling us, we've used fire a lot and they've never come!"

He sighed and said, "I hoped that you wouldn't figure it out, but you always were a smart girl…The reason I didn't tell you is because to summon the white women you have…to…"

"Yes?" She egged him to continue.

"You have to kill someone with your fire to summon them."

Meggie gasped and stepped back, "No." She whispered, "My dear Farid, you wouldn't make him would you!?"

"I wouldn't," He said, "But that boy has a mind of his own…" She took off further into the woods till' she hit something sturdy, knocking her back.

A/N k I'm sry I know it's short but I have major writers block on all my stories


	4. Chapter 4 authors note

OK so, ive had writers block 4 5 or 6 months now and im abt 2 give up, so if u have any suggestions 2 help plz PM me or review cuz if I dnt get something soon im just gunna delete all my stories

So luv 2 u all,

luckybubbles


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